The weekend Financial Times magazine features the FT Global 500. As Philip Coggan notes in an accompanying piece, Material differences, plenty has changed. Oil is in, autos are out:
Oil dominates the FT Global 500 rankings this year. The surge in the crude price past $70 a barrel helped ExxonMobil become the largest company by market value, pipping the regularly top-ranking duo of General Electric and Microsoft.
But companies that depend on using oil have not done quite so well. The financial problems that have dogged the big two US car producers, General Motors and Ford, mean that they finally drop out of the rankings, along with the French auto group, Peugeot.
...There are some nice ironies this year. Who would have thought, 20 years ago, that a company from the then Soviet Union would be one of the 10 largest by market value in the world, while the business so long synonymous with corporate America, GM, would not be in the largest 500? But Gazprom, the Russian oil and gas giant, is duly 10th in our list, up from 58th last year. Investors have been able to overcome their doubts about Russian corporate governance and the Putin regime’s apparent willingness to use energy as a political weapon. Indeed, since March 31, Gazprom has moved even higher up the rankings.
...The good news for investors is that the rise in commodity prices has not really had a significant impact on corporate profits. Indeed, by some measures, US corporate profits now comprise the highest proportion of GDP in 40 years... Nor have higher petrol/gasoline prices hit consumers hard enough to stop them spending. As a result, global economic growth has been strong; indeed, it is credited with driving the rise in commodity prices.
I believe drivetime is a corrupt business. in 2007 I bought a 2005 kia rio from drivetime. It was my first car and I knew little about buying cars. I am the first person in my family to ever have a license or own a car. Drivetime charged me over $23, 000 for a used kia when a new one is only 16, 000. On top of that, when I fell behind on my payments the called and offered me a payment plan in which they'd push the payment i was behind on back to the tail end of my contract pending I make a minimum payment on my debt. Its around this time that my mother dies due to heart problems. Somehow I managed sell everything I could to get enough money to pay drivetime what I owed them and tae care of my mother's arrangements. But, drivetime then told me that I was no longer eligible for the deferment and I remain behind to this day. My phone ring several time a day and I dont even want tot talk to those people because they lied to me about what theyd do while I used money that could have went to a memorial service for my mom on their lies.
Drivetime should go to hell. I deeply believe that these people have con'd me better than anyone in my entire life. I have paid them well over 20, 000 for a used kia and they still hound me every hour on the hour know damn well I have paid for the value of the car several times over. I fully agree with this cause and believe drivetime should be sued for corrupt business practices.
Posted by: Ind Tv Forum | Monday, May 09, 2011 at 01:09 PM